ncscott

I am looking to turn a disk brake "adventure" bike into a light touring bike and need a rack mounted to it. The bike itself is an old Schwinn with a disk brake mount added to it (LOVE this bike). I know Old Man Mountain originated the idea of mounting a rack to the quick release but I am looking at two cheaper options that will still do what I need them to do. So does anyone have experience with either one of these?
Streamliner Disc DLX - Streamliner Racks - Racks - Products - Axiom Cycling Gear
Nice rack for the rear, nice weight, nice options, am a little concerned about the mounting.
https://www.blackburndesign.com/rack...rear-rack.html
Absolutely love the versatility of this. It can be mounted to the front or the rear which brings this into the possibility of putting it on my mountain bike too. Nice price but with hidden costs (needs a longer QR which is not included). A half pound heavier than the Axiom. Has anyone used this and can you explain what QR is needed. I am assuming a rear QR will work the the front and a longer QR is needed for the rear.
Thanks all,
Scott

fietsbob

My Local Bike shop stocks some of those racks, I have installed some on other people's bikes, done and seen clever adaptations
people have done to tour on their favorite Bike , with rear racks .

Old Man Mountain uses a rear QR skewer for their Front Rack.. Mount.


Tandem hub QR , are Longer .... Shimano's tandem Hub is 145. Santana is even wider ..





...

robow

Have seen the axiom rack mounted and it looked secure but it is narrow and not much room to place stuff on top.

wschruba

I agree. The Uni-fit model is a much more versatile rack, even if it is a bit heavier; you are not as limited to using it for just panniers or narrow/lightly loaded trunks. It also has a set of lower rails for panniers, which are an advantage that really can't be explained properly, until you actually use them (they lower the center of gravity of your load, so the bike is less squirrely). The Uni-fit mounting plates are also way more burly than the Streamliner.

IMO, the Blackburn rack (and many of their current offerings for racks...) is a swing-and-a-miss. I don't want a rack with multiple moving parts--those are just another place for potential failure when carrying something. You will also likely find that there are compromises made to the rack to make it front OR rear: size probably being the biggest one. A front rack simply doesn't have to be enormous, since if the bike isn't designed to carry a large load up high, trying to load up a basket/whatever you can fit on top of it will result in a very un-fun bike to ride. The EX-1 was a design slam-dunk that they haven't been able to match since, mostly because it was/is so good: light, cheap, strong. They offer it in a QR version, which I have never used, but would not hesitate to do so, based on the thrashing(s) that I and several other people I know have given the original model.

ncscott

Thanks for the input. I do plan on putting a trunk bag on it so the streamliner is out but the Uni-fit seems to be a good option. The blackburn has the options but the extra screws to loosen. The price is now about the same. The nice thing about my frame is that it has all the rack attachment points, except for the ones removed for the disk brake. So whatever I put on will be very secure.
My options are go full bikepacking and make a small frame bag (I hate the idea of loosing my waterbottles). Go partial bikepacking with a rack and heavy trunk I already own or go partial bikepacking with a rack and ultralight panniers(aka, bags strapped to the rack).
Thanks,

fietsbob

Easy to make a narrow rack wider with a little DIY ingenuity. I made a Minirack over my front wheel, into a much wider platform,

with 1/4" plywood , plastic P clips, and some sheet metal screws (+ Varathane finish on the wood)

djb

I put an Axiom streamliner on my wifes road bike about three years ago and its a perfectly able rack. You did say "lightweight tourer" so I guess it really comes down to how much weight you want to put on it--given that it does rest on the skewer.
I wish I could give you a proper answer, but while the rack is good and sturdy, as good or better than regular alu racks I have used for decades, carrying up to 20-25lbs on the rear, I just dont know how it is with that amount of weight due to the skewer setup.

if going lightweight, I really do figure though that clothes and minimum stuff, along with a handlebar bag, are most likely never going to have you put more than 20lbs on the rear rack, so I strongly suspect it will be fine.

I think a certain amount of common sense will work here, especially if you can evaluate a given weight in your panniers and how it feels on the bike, but then I guess that depends on your experience with panniers, racks and riding bikes with panniers--and judging properly how much stress is going into the skewer at the rear--also, your body weight is probably an important factor, if light, then not a heck of a lot of weight will be on that part of the skewer and lock down bit-ie properly tighten down the skewer and the weight of the panniers is not going onto the actual skewer, but into the frame, just as it would with a bolt on rack.

my opinion anyway, but bottom line is that the axiom is well made and is rather sturdy.